My journey as an OCA student of Photography

Exercise 3.3 Sequence

03January 2018January 3, 2018January 3, 2018January 15, 2018

Brief: Make a sequence of photographs. Experiment by placing images together either in Photoshop or as prints. Notice how one image resonates with another image and how the two combine to produce a new meaning. If your sequence would work better as a slideshow, use PowerPoint or download Open Office to create one.

Subject: The Ostrich Mating Ritual

Location: Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya, Africa

About: The Ostrich mating is an elaborate and quite an interesting ritual. I was quite lucky to witness a successful mating ritual way back in 2012 in Masai Mara Game Reserve In Kenya, Africa. Out of the thousands of photos in the series, for the purpose of this exercise, I have put together a sequence of images, that explains the entire ritual of a successful mating from the beginning to the end.

So one fine morning, as I was roaming around in my safari jeep in the vast reserve in Kenya, I heard a male ostrich respond to what appeared to be a very low and faint sound of a female calling. The male Ostrich immediately responded and started running in the direction of the sound. The female Ostrich was apparently very far in the distance as we could not see anything at all. We followed the male Ostrich who ran across the high grasses, like a hero of an Indian movie. Finally, after about a mile and a half, we saw the female Ostrich standing. Now, this is just the beginning of the mating ritual.

Being in front of the female, the male Ostrich must impress the female by performing a dance in front of her. He sat on the ground and began dancing, a dance highlighted by the swaying of his long neck side to side and turning a deep red. It is believed the redder/pinker the male’s neck grows, the more his chances of being accepted by the female. The female, on the other hand, shows her acceptance by spreading her wings and bending forward, which is an indication to the male that he might approach her for mating now.

The male then approaches the female to perform the actual mating process.